


A Slip of the Tongue

by PiscesDragon



Series: A Series Of Shorts [6]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Explicit Language, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Married Couple, No Time No Beta, S8 doesn't exist here, vprp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:55:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21554215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PiscesDragon/pseuds/PiscesDragon
Summary: When Shiro curses during a training exercise, everyone hearing it over the comms is in complete shock. The rest of the Paladins corner Keith, worried and asking if Shiro is OK, because in all the years they’ve known him, they’ve never heard him curse before. Keith is confused — Shiro cusses ALL the time. Like, maybe every day. But then he realizes WHEN he hears Shiro use those words…(VPRP inspired)
Relationships: Allura & Coran & Hunk & Keith & Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt & Shiro, Allura/Lance (Voltron), Keith/Shiro (Voltron)
Series: A Series Of Shorts [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1395886
Comments: 23
Kudos: 233





	A Slip of the Tongue

**Author's Note:**

> Notes: Inspired by our favorite VPRP couple and [this tweet](https://twitter.com/tshiro01/status/1066856244000915457) \-- Written in honor of International ‘Shiro Says Fuck’ Day.
> 
> I didn't have a chance to get this beta'd in order to post it on time, so apologies for any errors I missed!

The team was in the fourth hour of maneuvers, and tempers were running high. The combined training exercise for Team Voltron, Atlas and the MFE crew had not gone as smoothly as they had expected. It seemed as if everything that  could possibly go wrong had. Voltron had trouble unifying due to a number of issues — namely Allura’s intensified quintessence from her newly discovered pregnancy interfering with their paladin connection, and Lance’s stress at having his wife and unborn child involved in combat practice, however mundane and routine it might be.

The MFE pilots were struggling with their own set of problems. Leifsdottir suffered ongoing engine troubles and had to drop out of the training run, and Nadia’s comms weren’t working correctly. The static and cutting in and out was putting Griffin on edge, his instruction and language getting shorter and more coarse to the rest of the group as the day wore on.

Even Shiro was dealing with his own difficulties.  Having decided to use the exercise to work on improving the slow, clunky maneuvering of the Atlas, he’d had little luck with getting his ship to (literally) bend to his will. After the twelfth failed attempt at making the Atlas  mecha perform a complicated spin resulted in it crashing to the ground, inadvertently catching one of the Green Lion’s legs and making Pidge spin out of control into the sky, it happened.

Shiro finally snapped.

_ “Fuck!” _ He bellowed as he slammed both hands onto the top of the control panel.

The bridge, along with every team member on a comm, immediately went silent. The Atlas crew peered around at each other in shock, but no one seemed willing to make the first comment. Coran opened his mouth to voice his concern about the status of Shiro’s now cracked control panel but quickly  thought better of it and closed his mouth. 

It was no secret that their captain, a mastery of diplomacy and calm under pressure, set an example of professionalism for his crew and everyone at the Garrison. Even Slav hadn’t managed to destroy his cool, making most people  believed Shiro was completely unflappable.

“I’ve got you, Shiro.” Keith’s soft and serious rasp broke the quiet which had descended over everyone involved in the exercise. A little louder and firmer, he directed, “Team, let’s help get the Atlas back on its feet.”

The Lions were already on route, taking up positions to help lift the transformed Atlas into a vertical standing position.

“I can do it,” Shiro grumbled, a small taciturn pout on his lips as he began shifting positions and communing with the machine to make it move.

Once they got the Atlas upright, Veronica regained her courage. 

“All right, bridge. I want damage reports stat. Coran, give us an assessment on the crystal and power systems. Sir,” Veronica said, her voice firm as she turned to Shiro with an authoritative air. “You  look like you could use a break. Let me take it from here, and I’ll send you a report as soon as we’ve got one.”

“I’m fine,” Shiro attempted to argue, but his face was pale as he wiped at it with his flesh palm. His mechanical arm was still gripping the broken control panel, appearing to be the only thing keeping him upright, and his gray eyes were drawn and tired.

“With all due respect, sir,” Veronica replied, in the tone of someone ready to win or go down fighting, “You  look like hell. Go rest, Captain.”

Her eyes softened at the end, making clear she was worried about him. Veronica wasn’t usually one to question him, so the fact that she was pushing told Shiro he must  look as exhausted as he felt.

“Ok, but only because you need the practice being in charge of this bird,” Shiro relented with a bare hint of a smile. She’d been on his case to take a well-deserved vacation and was the only person he’d trust to manage in his place if he ever finally gave in and took a break.

“You can count on us, sir,” Veronica grinned as she saluted. She was barking more orders to the crew before he’d even managed to get off the bridge.

******

No sooner had Shiro turned over command of the Atlas to his sister, Lance opened the secured line, open only to the rest of the lions. During the coordinated practice with the Atlas and the MFE’s, their inter-team video connection had been turned off, since with so many people in communication at once it created enough confusion.

The faces of the rest of the team popped up on Keith’s control panel one by one as they answered the request.  Having created the channel, Lance was the first to appear, his face flushed and looking incredibly gleeful considering the grinding training of the past few hours.

“Holy crap!” Lance shouted before everyone else had even appeared on Keith’s screen. “I did  _ not _ know Shiro had it in him!”

“What are you talking about?” Keith questioned with a bored  look on his face. It seemed to take very little to get their resident drama queen excited, and after the day they’d had, Keith was in no mood to deal with it.

“Did you not  hear him?” Lance asked with a giddy grin like Christmas had come early. “Shiro’s got a potty mouth! He said  _ fuck!” _

“Yeah, and…?” Keith replied, unaffected.

“Is he alright?” Allura’s question was clearly addressed to Keith, as if he held all the answers to everything Shiro-related.

“No way. Shiro is not ok at  _ all!” _ Hunk’s eyes were wide with concern.

The conversation was still doing nothing except confusing Keith. “Why would he not be?”

“Has anyone ever  heard him use that kind of language?” Hunk asked. “I haven’t…”

“Me neither,” Pidge said, taking a bite out of the red licorice stick in her hand. “Kind of strange now that I  think about it…”

“Seriously?” Keith was incredulous. “Shiro says that  _ all _ the time.”

“No, he doesn’t,” Pidge argued. “Allura, have you ever  heard Shiro curse?”

Allura pressed a slim finger to her lips, which were pursed in  thought . Her pale brows pinched together as she considered the question. “Hmmm… Well, I’m not as knowledgeable about such Earth terms, so it’s possible… But I don’t  believe so. Shiro seems to maintain very strict control of the language he uses.”

“He’s got a lot of practice with that,” Hunk suggested. “What with being in charge of so many things at the Garrison for so long.”

“You guys are all crazy,” Keith said with a shake of his head, getting tired of their ridiculous conversation. His dark hair tumbled around his face, and he swiped it away from his eyes.

It wasn’t really something Keith gave much  thought to, but Shiro was no saint. He talked just like anyone else. Hell, even Allura was prone to tossing out the odd “ quiznak ” on occasion. All of them had a tendency to get a little crude at times, especially when they were excited, angry or frustrated.

“Well, you’re  _ special,  _ Keith,” Pidge said with a wink and a sly smirk. “Of course Shiro is going to let loose a little more with  _ you.” _

Keith couldn’t help the blush that warmed his cheeks. 

“Whatever,” he grumbled amiably. “Let’s just get back to the Atlas and get the debrief over with. I’m starving.”

“Me too!” Allura agreed.

“Let’s get this princess fed, people,” Lance immediately demanded, as if the fate of the universe suddenly rested on Allura’s dinner plans. “No time to waste.”

The Red Lion broke formation, speeding out ahead of the group, with Allura in Blue bounding through the air after him playfully.

While Pidge laughed and Hunk chuckled at their antics, Keith just shook his head with a smile. It was nice to see his team so happy and enjoying each other. After everything they had all been through, they all certainly deserved it.

*****

Shiro looked up as the door swished open, his head tilting toward the sound from its reclined position on the couch. A relaxed smile spread over his face when he saw the person joining him.

“How are you doing?” Keith asked, already shucking off pieces of his uniform the minute he walked into his quarters. “The team was really worried about you today.”

“I’m fine. Just got a little worn down. It was a long afternoon,” Shiro answered, watching Keith come closer to stand in front of him. He’d been expecting him to drop into the seat beside him, but when his posture indicated he wasn’t planning to move nearer, Shiro knew Keith must have something he wanted to discuss.

“We’ve talked about this before, Shiro,” Keith said, looking down at him. The tone of his voice was cool and steady as if they were discussing the weather. “You’ve got to be aware of your limits.”

“Keith —” Shiro began to protest, but Keith cut off his argument.

“It takes five of us to command Voltron. Atlas is a lot bigger, and there’s only one of you,” he pointed out with a frown.

Shiro sighed. “What’s your point?”

“You’re not indestructible.”

“You never know,” Shiro attempted to joke with a defiant glint in his eye, “I might be.”

Keith’s arms immediately crossed in front of him, his voice firm as he said slowly, “We are  _ not _ going to test that theory. Ever. That’s my point.”

The glare of his indigo eyes reminded Shiro that his health and safety had never been a laughing matter for Keith. Even attempting it was pressing his luck, as they were both well aware of everything his husband had done in the past to keep him alive.

“I’m sorry,” Shiro said quietly, clearly buckling under Keith’s concerned expression.

Keith was at his side before he could blink, climbing into Shiro’s lap with a knee on each side of his hips and his calloused hands gently cradling his husband’s face. “Don’t be sorry. Just be careful.”

The added  _ “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you  _ **_again_ ** _ ” _ was unspoken, but Shiro  heard it loud and clear in the soft, sweet kiss being pressed to his lips. For a few minutes they just reveled in the warmth of each other, arms wrapping them together as if they could meld into one, as their mouths tangled in an unhurried, gentle dance.

“I guess I did  look a little rough before I got back here and took a nap,” Shiro said when they finally put an inch of space between them for the necessary air. “But I didn’t have the vids on with the rest of your team. Why were they so concerned?”

“Apparently, your ‘potty mouth’ threw them off,” Keith explained with an amused quirk to his lips.

“My what?”

“When you lost your shit and cussed, they  thought you had snapped or something,” Keith chuckled.

Shiro’s face scrunched in confusion. “Did I? I didn’t realize. God, I’ll have to address the crew tomorrow and apologize.”

“Oh, please,” Keith scoffed. “They  heard the same thing and worse from Griffin for basically the entire last half of the training run.”

“I don’t operate that way,” Shiro stated with a serious expression.

“That might be true generally, but I know for a fact you’re no angel,” Keith said with a smile.

A pale metal hand sprang up to grip the front of Shiro’s shirt dramatically. “That hurts me,” he laughed.

“Don’t worry,” Keith replied, his voice dropping an octave as he pressed back in closer to his husband. “I like it.”

Kissing Shiro before he could answer, Keith’s tongue took advantage of the fact that he’d opened his mouth to comment and dove in. He was eager to stoke the fire he could already feel beginning to build in Shiro’s pants. As his husband’s hands roamed his back and gripped around his waist, pulling him closer with one hand while fisting his hair with the other, Keith groaned and pressed his hips into Shiro’s.

_ “Fuck… Keith,” _ Shiro moaned, only making his husband want to do it again.

“See, I told them you talk like that all the time, but no one  believed me,” Keith murmured against Shiro’s neck, his hands already moving with purpose to divest his husband of his clothes, which he had rapidly determined to be completely unnecessary.

******

The next morning, Keith and Shiro went to the Atlas mess hall for breakfast, joining Lance and Allura at the team’s regular table. Keith’s eyes widened at the amount of food in front of Allura, piled on three different plates. Apparently, growing an  Altean -human hybrid required a lot of calories.

An  _ insane _ amount of calories.

And there was barely even a bump to show for it on Allura’s trim figure, since she was still very early on in the process. Keith hoped the Atlas cafeteria would be able to keep up with her as the pregnancy progressed. The  look Shiro was shooting from the corner of his eye told Keith his husband was  thinking the same thing.

“Where’s Pidge and Hunk?” Keith asked as they sat down at the table across from the other couple. “Still asleep?”

“I saw Pidge running down the hallway this morning half-dressed. I’m guessing it was a brain explosion.” Years later, Keith was still not comfortable with how Lance described Pidge’s tendency to have a major scientific epiphany and go racing off to her lab with a crazed glint in her eyes. The visual of those words was just too unsettling. “I’d assume she’s dragged Hunk off to help with whatever new thing she’s cooked up.”

“Seems probable,” Shiro agreed.

“Shiro, have you recovered from yesterday’s training?” Allura asked, concern sparkling in her bright blue eyes.

“I’m fine,” Shiro said, shrugging it off and clearly not wanting to discuss the topic.

Unfortunately, Allura’s husband wasn’t willing to play along. “Yeah, Shiro, did you have to add any more to the swear jar?”

“Swear jar?” Shiro asked with a puzzled expression forming a wrinkle between his brows.

“Yeah, you know,” Lance explained, looking at Shiro as if he were an idiot. “Like when you’re a kid, and your mom makes you put your allowance in the jar for saying bad words. My sister has one and makes her husband put in money when he curses in front of the kids.”

“I never had one of those,” Keith answered, hoping to divert Lance’s attention away from Shiro to avoid reminding him about yesterday’s outburst. He knew Shiro already felt awkward about it — he didn’t need Lance making it worse.

“Yeah, we never did either,” Shiro said. “Not that I ever would have even  _ considered _ cursing in front of my grandparents. Sofu would've had my hide.”

“It’s a good thing we don’t have a swear jar in our quarters,” Keith laughed,  thinking about all the dirty words Shiro had used last night.

It was on the tip of his tongue to say that between the living area and the bedroom, they would be halfway to saving for their vacation, when the idea struck Keith like a lightning bolt. The memory of Shiro’s voice played through his mind like a song stuck in his head.

_ Fuck, baby… Ah, shit, right there… God - AH! Fucking hell…  _

_ Shit, Keith - fuck baby, I’m  _ _ gonna _ _ — _

Holy shit.  _ He _ was the one that made Shiro talk like that all the time! It was his fault! The realization made a warm feeling of pride settle in Keith’s chest. He couldn’t help but enjoy the fact that  _ he _ was the only one capable of completely unraveling Shiro, making him so out of his head with  pleasure he couldn’t maintain his control.

The realization was like he’d been given a superpower, knowing he was the only person in the universe that Shiro loved and trusted enough to let go with completely.

“Why?” Lance asked. Keith’s eyes were wide as he focused back on his surroundings to find the rest of the group staring at him patiently.

“Why what?” Keith asked, still stuck on his epiphany. He prayed his friends  believed his cheeks were flushed with embarrassment.

“Why is it a good thing you don’t have a swear jar?”

Oh,  right. He’d forgotten Lance had asked a question.

Thinking quickly, Keith replied, “Oh… Because I would probably always be the one filling it.”

Warmth and pressure surrounded the hand laying closest to Shiro, and Keith turned to see a bright, knowing smile on his husband’s face. Keith quirked his lips and squeezed back, silently telling his husband he would always have his back.

His secrets were now  _ their _ secrets, after all.

“But I  thought yesterday you said —” Lance began, but instead of listening, Keith promptly leaned over and very thoroughly kissed the smile off his husband’s face.

“Ew,” Lance complained, wrinkling his nose at the rare public display of affection between his friends. “You guys are gross.”

“I think they’re sweet,” Allura argued, looking somewhat ridiculous stuffing potatoes into her mouth with hearts in her eyes.

Keith couldn’t care less what their friends  thought about it. As Shiro’s large hand molded to his waist pulling him closer and sweet lips pressed a lingering chaste kiss to his cheek, Keith’s brain flooded with thoughts of later that evening. He was already making a list in his head of things to try, possible positions and teasing touches that would drive Shiro crazy, and possibly even inspire him to use some  _ new _ vocabulary.

He could hardly wait to start pulling more filthy words from his husband’s mouth.   
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> This author is very happy to accept any comments and greatly appreciates kudos!
> 
> You can find me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/geek_life13) as well!


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